Victoria, BC

As the post-Olympic political session gets underway in Victoria, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and others are pressing hard to receive clarity around a number of issues involved in the successful development of a clean energy sector in the province. Many hope that strong policies and clear, concise regulations will be set out in the upcoming release of the new Clean Energy Act.

Full Story at the Vancouver Sun

Calgary, for an oil-town, has an active and growing clean-tech and renewable energy sector.  This week there’s still time to register for WADE Canada’s RETScreen project assessment workshop, a full two day exploration of how to use the RETScreen software to assess clean energy project development decisions.

WADE (World Alliance for Decentralized Energy) Canada is headquartered in Calgary, and works to enable and encourage the development of energy sources that are scaled to loads and located in close proximity to where the energy will be consumed.

WADE Canada is one strong example of how students, workers and professionals in the Calgary region can join the ranks of the Canadian renewable energy sector.  More to come in future posts.

After a 1 year detour, conditions have returned to move forward again.  Renewable REcruits is in full effect, with a new mandate to aid people in starting strong with the Canadian renewable energy and energy management sector.  See Services for more information on the goods. 

It was quite a year, specifically the hands-on experience last Summer at the Bear Mountain Wind-park, BC’s first utility scale wind installation.  Now, work crews are on the ground installing tower sections at BC’s second facility, the Dokie Ridge Wind-farm, located near Chetwynd in the province’s Northeast.  There is talk of expanding this project to a total capacity of 300 megawatts!  This whole region is considered very good for wind, due to the geographical lay-out of the landscape.  If you feel called to wind-tower installation or development work, go ahead and forward your CV to info@renewablerecruits.com.

Today, recruiting and communications work has returned to the radar, and with full dedication Renewable REcruits re-enters the sector in this capacity.  We are re-locating to the city of Calgary, to better serve the growing clean-tech and renewable energy business community.

Currently, work on building and promoting Clean Energy Classrooms 2.0 is underway!  This exciting project represents the first step on the path to a clean energy career: Education.  A wide range of programs and courses now exist across Canada, take a look!

Check out Part 1 about the hands-on experience of working at the Bear Mountain Wind-park near Dawson Creek BC!

Part 1: The sub-station

Part 2: The towers arrive

Part 3: Installing electrical

Originally posted at the BCSEA news listserv, in response to this letter to the editor by Blair Lekstrom, BC’s new Minister of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources.

“I choose to see, and then apply myself and work towards, the positive aspects in this private-power situation, being as it is the current climate that my generation has to work with. It has more opportunity for a newcomer like me than a crown-corp based, union strangle-hold business model does, for sure! Just landed work as an electrical apprentice on a wind-park project here in Northern BC.

I choose not to feed into the ‘raped by the IPP’ mentality, thanks anyway. I also for the record don’t want to see the Site C built here, with its attendant fallout. Smaller hydro, that ‘grows in’ quite nicely in 3 to 5 years, especially with riparian planting measures etc, has my preference.

Electricity is far more vast of a thing than simply ‘public service’. No-one owns electricity. It can be generated, transmitted, bought, sold, spun out from the core of stars, created at home, or even lived without completely. It can also be fought over, or bring people and organizations together for mutual benefit (ie good business, which admittedly to date has often not been the case, ie Bill C-30 which strips regional district/municipal rights to local land management authority). What a mistake, that is NOT the kind of at-all-costs approach I am in favour of, personally.

But, a BC Hydro that is hesitant about building new generation itself, including with new technologies, during a historical period of intense global innovation and adoption in these technologies, will lose the ’should be run be government’ rights and entitlement, not because they deserve to lose them, but because they simply do, that’s reality.

Philosophically, this may be an attitude, and resulting consequence of the citizens of BC as well, being as the will of the people is reflected, directly and indirectly, by the governments they elect. How this plays out in the upcoming election will be very interesting to witness.”

Kevin Pegg, President of Energy Alternatives, Victoria BC:

Being an employer in the RE sector, I have a constant flow of resumes coming in. One common trend I find is lack of specialty. Do you want to design systems, or do you want to install them?

If installation and the hands-on aspect is what excites you, I strongly urge people to build on an existing trade. Therefore, if you want to do solar hot water, get your plumbing ticket. Solar PV, electrical etc. If you are more interested in the design aspect, then learning building systems, estimation skills, and the computer skills (ie CAD) that are expected.

Far too often, I see resumes from people who want to be an installer, have taken a 2 year college course somewhere, but previous to that had never swung a hammer in their life, no experience with buildings, no background in electricity or electronics. Or they want to sell renewable energy systems, but have no sales experience. I look for candidates who are specific in what they want to do, and have the training or previous skills that compliment. So I strongly caution people to be specific about what it is that excites them.

This sector is only going to grow, and requires a skilled workforce to support it. There’s enough diversity and special skills, and we also can’t forget the basic fundamentals ie accounting and shipping that apply to any business.

A pretty good list.  It had my  immediate respect when I saw they’d listed ‘Farmer’ as the number 1 job…

List at SustainableBusiness.com

Read the complete article at Fast Company

Here’s the almost compulsory “forecast” post, a look at the year upcoming and where opportunities may exist in the crises.

Enough has been written on the year that was, and the only lesson I would re-iterate here would be: Smarten Up, Toughen Up. The days of easy answers and reality TV are going, going, gone. Tackling and understanding real life, head-on, can no longer be deferred to some future day or future generation.

What’s next then? Firstly, for a piece of quality ‘doom & gloom’ insight, I highly recommend reading James Kunstler’s 2009 forecast. The man does not deal in hope, but in the the mechanics of the situation as it mostly really is, with a strong bend toward solutions based on regional self-reliance.

Then, for a good visualization, fast-forward past the madness to 2030 with Guy Dauncey. His fun, five-part adventure of what Vancouver BC could be like with a strong sustainability-based progress plan is both inspiring and do-able.

Want in to a renewable energy career? Take a college or university program to get yourself in the mood and inform your mind. Its also great networking. Equally important, join an association like the BCSEA, Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, or one of the many industry groups (see Jobs page for links). There are also now three co-operatives that I am aware of. These are excellent organizations, using a winning business model, where one can help out, learn, and even earn a small return. Jobs are a little harder to land right at the moment (thanks to our crazy federal government, among other things), but if you do your homework and jump in there with the understanding that this is a ‘barn-raising’, not a gravy train, you will do well for yourself. Good luck!!

Peace Energy Cooperative, Vancouver Renewable Energy Cooperative, Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative

Toronto – Those gathered this week for the Canadian Solar Industry Association’s annual event learned how the recent financial turmoil in the world markets is likely to effect the development of solar power in Canada.  Very few if any investment banks in this country are willing to finance high risk ventures like solar, and the US, though now led by Barack Obama, who is supportive of renewable energy, will likely seek to support its own industries exclusively as it seeks to re-start its economy.

For complete article in Canadian Business Online click here.

Chetwynd, BC – The first utility-scale wind turbine in BC has finally been erected (a 3 megawatt Vestas V90), and at the same time, the company constructing the project is apparently heading for bankruptcy.

Earthfirst Canada has been the developer of the 144 megawatt Dokie Wind project, which in 2006 received a power purchase contract from BC Hydro.  However, recent skyrocketing labour and material costs, credit crunch chaos, and a downgrade of the potential wind energy at their site, has left Earthfirst unable to celebrate the construction of its first tower.

Its a ironic, sad, and telling story.  The hopeful emergence of a sustainable energy future is being damaged by the death throes of a consumer economy based on cheap credit, and cheap oil.  It may take a little longer than anticipated to make a successful transition, but in the long-run I have faith it will be the most accessible path, with the most potential for protecting our planet and revitalizing the economy, both locally and globally.

Visit the Dokie Wind site at google-maps.